21 Alberto Giacometti Facts: Death, Legacy, Art & Many More!

A Swiss-born sculptor, painter, draftsman, and printmaker, Alberto Giacometti was known as a jack of all trades.

Though  Alberto Giacometti hailed from Borgonovo, he spent much of his life in Paris where he worked. His classic sculptures were the highlights of the 20th century, among many.

One of the many important sculptors of the times, Alberto Giacometti was greatly influenced by Cubism and Surrealism.

The philosophical ideas about humans and the debates of existentialism and phenomenology molded his perceptions to reflect in his artworks. To pick up figurative ideas, Alberto Giacometti gave up on Surrealism in 1935. Surrealism was more of a cultural movement in the 20th century when artists let their unconscious minds depict illogical scenes. Figurative art, on the other hand, attracted him with its more representational forms that carried perceptions better.

It's not just sculptures that define this sublimely gifted artist. Alberto Giacometti penned for periodicals and exhibition catalogs. Alberto Giacometti had a critical nature which made him question his artistic vision through the lens of self-doubt and inability to self-perceive. Nonetheless, this helped him groom his artistic force within. The height of his works ranged from tiny sculptures of 2.7 in (7 cm) to extremely tall and slender figurines at different passages of history. Between 1938 and 1944, his sculptures were much smaller and after the Second World War, Alberto Giacometti displayed tall and slender figurines. Varying with individual discernments, these sculptures were and continue to be a marvel. Mainly a painter, Giacometti had tried his hand on paintings too. He produced some of the finest figurative and monochrome paintings that were full of life.

You would love to read about his early life, career, and a lot more Alberto Giacometti facts. Dive further to get some insights into his life here!

Early Life Of Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti was born on October 10, 1901, in Borgonovo in Switzerland. Alberto Giacometti was the eldest of four siblings and was born to the post-impressionist painter, Giovanni Giacometti, and Annetta Giacometti Stampa.

• His artistic background and the artistic vision imbibed by his father would have triggered him to nurture this skill. The family was said to be a descendant of Protestant refugees to Switzerland.
• Not just Alberto, his two brothers Diego and Bruno also pursued similar careers of artistry and architecture.
• Alberto Giacometti attended the Geneva School of Fine Arts to become a highly esteemed and world-renowned artist. It is believed that he spoke Italian and French.

The Profession Of Alberto Giacometti

From his hometown Borgonvo, Alberto Giacometti moved to Paris in 1922, for practice under sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, who was an associate of Rodin.

• Antoine acquainted him with Cubism and Surrealism and that fulled him to be regarded as one of the leading Surrealist sculptors. Much to our amazement, the established artists like Miro, Max Ernst, Picasso, Bror Hjorth, and Balthus were his associates.
• Initially, between 1936 and 1940, Giacometti concentrated only on sculpting human heads. When the Second World War sprout up, Alberto Giacometti took refuge in Switzerland and met Annette Arm in 1946. Annette was the secretary for the Red Cross then. The duo married in 1949.
• From his sister and the artist Isabel Rawsthorne, he chose his wife Annett Arm as the main female model who inspired his sculptures after marriage.
• The size and structure of sculptures kept changing in different phases of his professional life.
• Known for his tall yet sleek and slender figurines, Giacometti had created a name for his bronze sculptures in a span of 15 years between 1945 to 1960.
• Alberto Giacometti could beautifully carve out moments of stillness and impressions with his tools. More than anything else, Alberto Giacometti depicted the insignificance and loneliness shadowing human lives which most artists fail to bring about. ‘Walking Man’ was one of his popular creations among many others.
• Alberto Giacometti had a biographer named James Lord. In 1965, he exhibited his works in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
• His collection of lithographic paintings was printed in his book ‘Paris Sans Fin’ which won at gaining international popularity. He used clay and plaster as mediums too, and he had quite a peculiar way of making sculptures from memory.

Later Years Of Alberto Giacometti

In 1958, though Alberto was invited to carve out a colossal sculpture for the Chase Manhattan Bank building in New York which he turned down after creating four figures of standing women only because the sculpture was not in concurrence with the site.

• In 1962, this magician of sculptures was honored with the grand prize for sculpture at the Venice Biennale that brought him worldwide fame.
• In his professional life, he could create a wave in the exhibitions and imprinted legacy and popularity throughout Europe.
• In 1965, this celebrated artist traveled to the US for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Several centers of public collections and the first solo exhibition of Alberto’s works at the National Portrait Gallery in London are worth mentioning.

Passing Away Of Alberto Giacometti

This ailing artist suffering from pericarditis, heart disease, and pulmonary disease, had to bid adieu in 1966 Kantonsspital in Chur, in his motherland Switzerland and was interred near his parents at his birthplace in Borgonovo. 

• The couple had no children. Following Giacometti’s death, his wife Annette marched to gather his artworks, to find their location of manufacture, and fought against the rising counterfeited artworks.
• With the death of his better half, the French state set up the ‘Fondation Giacometti’; aka Alberto and Annette Giacometti Foundation in his fond remembrance.
• Giacometti died on January 11, 1966, but Giacometti's work left a lot of legacies behind, which resulted in the Giacometti bronze monumental sculpture.
• There is an exhibition of sculptures, paintings, drawings at the Pierre Matisse Gallery. Giacometti's friend once said that if Giacometti decided to sculpt you, 'he would make your head look like the blade of a knife'. Fondo Paolo Monti, BEIC photographed the Swiss sculptor, Alberto Giacometti at the 31° Venice Biennale in 1962.
• Giacometti's difficulty with decorative arts has left an impact on the art world. Giacometti's life was always surrounded by observing art.
• Even after his expulsion from the Surrealist group, his sculptures were an expression of his emotional response to the topic, even though the objective was typically mimicry.
• Giacometti began and Giacometti continued to display his talent in art from an early age. Jacques Tajan was convicted of stealing his work.